When accountant Steven Flynn heard Canada’s immigration website crashed Tuesday night, as it became clear Donald Trump would be the next U.S. president, he figuratively cleared the desk in his Steveston office to prepare for the arrival of liberal Americans, banging on his door and seeking to move themselves and their assets north.
Flynn and accounting partner Warren Dueck, of W.L. Dueck and Co. LLP, a firm specializing in U.S. and cross-border tax solutions, say they’ve seen this all before — when conservative hawk George W. Bush took control of the White House in 2000.
Flynn said, if Trump follows through on many of his stated goals, he would expect more inquiries than he saw 16 years ago.
Flynn has written a Coles Notes-type guide for Americans to follow in order to understand the intricacies of moving to Canada.
Aside from navigating the complicated application process and then fulfilling residency requirements to become a Canadian, many Americans also need to understand how their assets will be affected, said Flynn.
“It’s not an easy thing to do,” he told the Richmond News.
“While Canada has many similarities to the U.S., the differences are more significant than French and English on cereal boxes,” wrote Flynn in his statement.
The main thing to understand for any American is that personal taxes are generally higher in Canada, but corporate taxes are less so, noted Flynn.
Should an American wish to retain U.S. citizenship, they will need to file their taxes to Uncle Sam each year, regardless of where they live.
“Typically, they won’t pay U.S. taxes,” due to offsetting tax credits, said Flynn.
In Canada, Americans will see lower payroll taxes and benefit from universal healthcare, although they may be surprised to know in B.C. they will pay a monthly fee (MSP).
“Finally, Canadians are generally polite and courteous to a fault, when they are not playing hockey,” quipped Flynn.
In 2015, the U.S. was the seventh largest source of new permanent Canadian residents, with 7,519 crossing the 49th parallel. Canada took in 50,816 from The Philippines, which topped the list.
